Golem
Golem was a German robot that fought in German Robot Wars and part of UK Robot Wars Extreme. Its name originated from Jewish mythology, meaning "soulless mass". While it lost its only battle in Extreme 1, Golem reached the Heat Final of German Robot Wars, losing to eventual fourth place finisher Tyke. Golem was scheduled to take part in the Losers Melee to determine fifth through eighth place at the end of the series, but was forced to withdraw after sustaining damage from Shunt in its battle with Tyke. Golem was then stripped of its electronics and the chassis was used as a Drop Zone item in the Grand Final. Team member Dirk Ferachen also assisted Junkyard Queen roboteer Frank Fietzek during German Robot Wars, despite the two robots battling each other in the first round of the championship. Design Golem was a large invertible cross-shaped robot with four wheels, a front wedge and a set of carbon spikes as its weapons. It cost £3000 to build, and was painted silver and green in Extreme 1, with the chassis painted in a darker shade of green for the German series. In the German series, Golem also featured a Michelin Man doll impaled on its front spike, which served as the robot's mascot. The robot ran on a highly modified speed controller, 30 Ni-Cd. Cells with 20 Amps capacity, and electric drive motors with 1.2kW of power in each. The robot's wheels were exposed from the top and could be dislodged easily, and the machine was unreliable, breaking down in two of its battles. Qualification After RTL announced a series of Robot Wars which would air in Germany, to be filmed concurrently with the fifth UK series and first Dutch series, Golem was built ahead of the deadline, and was ready to compete. However, as Golem was one of only four applicants for the series, filming for a dedicated series never took place due to the lack of entrieshttp://web.archive.org/web/20030411084747/http://www.robothomsen.de:80/london.html. Golem was, however, invited to compete in the German Melee of Robot Wars Extreme, alongside the other three series applicants. When RTL attempted to film another German series of Robot Wars one year later, the series found enough entries for filming to proceed, and Golem was among its twelve participants. Golem was required to attend a safety check two months prior to the filming of the series, alongside all of the other competitors. Here, Golem was the most complete robot in attendance, having been built a year prior. Robot History Extreme 1 In The German World Championship Qualifier (which was also broadcast a year later during German Robot Wars), Golem faced Ansgar, Flensburger Power and Nasty Warrior. Before the battle, Golem damaged the arena entry gates by driving straight into it. Golem dodged its opponents, but got stuck on an angle grinder and broke down. Matilda and Shunt pushed it onto the pit, before Refbot pressed the button at the end of the battle. Ansgar was declared the winner, and so qualified for the World Championships. German Series In Golem's first battle, it faced Ansgar's Revenge and Junkyard Queen, both of whom suffered from control issues during the melee. Early on, Golem's wheel dislodged, causing it to have drive issues, especially in reverse. With Ansgar's Revenge limping heavily, Golem spent the rest of the battle fighting with Junkyard Queen, save for the final few seconds, where Golem repeatedly slammed into the arena wall, attempting to reverse but unable to due to the blocked wheel. In its Grand Final qualifier, Golem faced Tyke and began the battle well, despite running into Shunt, shoving Tyke into the pit release button. Tyke fought back, and, just as it had broken away, Golem broke down. Smoke could be seen billowing from the top of Golem as the Refbot counted it out, and the House Robots attacked. Golem was put onto the flipper and thrown across the arena, put onto the Drop Zone where a collection of balls was dropped onto it, and finally pushed into the pit by Mr. Psycho. Golem was set to appear in the playoff for 5th-8th position, but, like Hydrotec, had to withdraw. Despite this, it did make an appearance in the battle, as a Drop Zone item. It descended onto the top of Junkyard Queen which had been immobilised, mostly missing its mark, but still spiking the wooden arena floor. Results |} Wins/Losses *UK Wins: 0 *UK Losses: 1 *German Wins: 1 *German Losses: 1 NOTE: The losers' melee from which Golem withdrew is not included in the tally. Series Record German Series Early golem.png|An early version of Golem Golem Crew.png|The Golem Crew being interviewed in the German Series pits golem live events.jpg|Golem without its spike at a Live Event Golem insides.jpg|The insides of Golem Golem insides pits germanseries.jpg|Golem in the pits during the German Series UK Series Outside Robot Wars Aside from their heavyweight machine Golem, the team also started building a raptor class robot with a pneumatic axe, and an antweight robot named Golissimo, designed to scale down the Golem design. Golem itself fought in the second Dutch Robot Games in April 2003, where it is known to have fought Philipper 2. The two had previously fought at the Dutch Robot Games in 2001. Trivia *Golem is the only robot to be put on the Drop Zone and then used as a Drop Zone object. External Links *Golem website (archived, German language) References Category:International event only competitors in the UK Series Category:German Robots Category:German Series competitors Category:German Representatives Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots with more Losses than Wins Category:Robots that forfeited a place Category:Victims of The Drop Zone Category:Robots that bore the German flag Category:Robots with Mascots Category:Robots with religious or mythological names Category:Robots whose events were cancelled Category:Robots with cameo appearances in Series 6